Under normal circumstances, whether it was an internal hearing or a promotion selection process,
only three Police Force officers would generally be responsible: the commander of the relevant police district or department, and two dedicated officers specially dispatched by Police Force Headquarters.
But this was not absolute, and situations like the present one, with more than three officers in charge, were rare.
Police Force Headquarters had directly assembled a three-person working group, while East Kowloon Headquarters could hardly be left out entirely.
Thus, Situ Jie, the Deputy Commander of East Kowloon Regional Headquarters, naturally became one of the officers responsible for the proceedings that followed.
By convention, Situ Jie should actually have been the principal officer in charge of the subsequent proceedings.
This was not merely because he held the highest police rank, but also out of regard for the relevant police district and department.
The dedicated officers dispatched by headquarters were primarily there to record the proceedings.
Their opinions mattered, but they would generally avoid embarrassing the officers in charge of the relevant police district or department.
However, this applied only to promotion selection procedures.
In an internal hearing, the dedicated officers from headquarters would undoubtedly bear responsibility for supervising the police districts and departments below them.
At present, Yeung Kam Wing represented the views of the Police Force's top brass.
Such a situation clearly did not fall under the usual conventions.
Although he was only a Senior Superintendent, one rank below Situ Jie, he held absolute authority over the proceedings that followed.
Of course, Situ Jie's presence could not be disregarded either, so Yeung Kam Wing accorded him the respect he was due.
The four Police Force officers responsible for these internal proceedings sat side by side on the inner side of the long conference table.
Yeung Kam